The reason I wrote to the designer is because this pattern has been out for sometime now and I thought that my questions might have been raised with them before, if not by email, at least in person when they make appearances at quilting events or doing workshops. Maybe I am naive, but I think they should respond to me to explain why they constructed it the way they did and what problems I might encounter by strip piecing. I do not expect them to rewrite the pattern for me. I have not heard from them yet. I have worked out a method to do it strip piecing. The hard part for me will be the Y seams for the small setting triangles around the edge. Y seams are not my favorite, but I have decided if need be, I can hand sew them. I am just stubborn enough to work it out. It is a beautiful pattern. I love the piecing and applique combination. I have been making large bed size quilts and think it is time for a lap quilt.

The owner of my local quilt shop took some time with me yesterday concerning this pattern (My corner Garden). She confirmed my plan to strip piece the blocks and sew them in strips diagonally. We also discussed a plan to handle the edges and corners. I asked her why the designer would create a pattern that has so many tiny half triangles and squares. She said some quilter's are intimidated by blocks on point and rather do the work of expanding a center nine patch to make it a large block that could be combined with the other like blocks for vertical or horizontal strips. For me, I will strip piece in order to avoid handling hundreds of small pieces separately. She also helped me select fabric, so I am ready to go. The only part of quilting I dread is cutting, so I get over that hump first, By the way, the quilt designer has never answered my emails about the pattern. Oh well, I will avoid patterns from that designer in the future.

I think you are on the right track. I often "rewrite" patterns to use techniques that make more sense to me. Good luck on your quilt. I really like it!

I figured out how to make this quilt top in diagonal strips rather than working with hundreds of small pieces. I had to figure out the right size setting triangles, but there is a good formula for this on the Internet. I am pleased with the way it turned out and pleased that I had the confidence to experiment and do it in an easier way than the original complex pattern. This is my first time to post a picture--fingers crossed.[ATTACH=CONFIG]541879[/ATTACH]

Wow you did a great job, I just love the pattern. Good Job!

Before I start any quilt project I starch my fabrics. That seems to help with stretching and distortion during the sewing process for me. I make my own starch mixture using the basic Vodka Recipe and add additional liquid starch to make it even stiffer. Keeps the fraying at bay too.

My problem with this pattern was not stretching and distortion. The problem was cutting out, handling, and sewing so many small pieces as the pattern called for. I couldn't figure out why the pattern wouldn't work by strip piecing, which is so much easier and faster and I found a way to do it. I had to make my blocks slightly larger than the pattern, so the quilt is also slightly larger, but that is okay. Strip piecing made this quilt so much easier than the way the pattern was written. I appreciate your information about starching. There are some patterns where it is necessary to work with bias edges and starching helps. I really liked this pattern and was almost ready to give up and not do it when I contemplated handling so many pieces, but with encouragement from many of you, decided to work out the strip piecing and I wanted to report that it worked. Thanks to everyone.